


Loading Love

by Little_Details_That_Count



Category: THE iDOLM@STER, Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-19
Updated: 2015-07-25
Packaged: 2018-04-10 05:11:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4378517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Details_That_Count/pseuds/Little_Details_That_Count
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A girl without a backbone; a boy without a heart. Searching for fearlessness; searching for feelings; searching for freedom. 'With critical eyes And a tentative smile he Showed me a new world' [AiYuki]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 5%

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* * *

_A light flashed behind unfeeling cyan eyes, heavily disorienting them. Brown hair buffeted around a pretty face before him, distorted in terror. The wind nearly drowned out her cries._

_"I-I'm r-r-r-really sorry! P-please excuse me!"_

_And with a series of quick clicks from her small heels and a swish of her dress, she was gone. The light flickered off as soon as it had lit._

_A hand curled into a fist and pressed against a pounding chest._

_'What...is this...'_

_'Ai-Ai~!'_

* * *

"'Ey, Ai-Ai!"

_That memory..._

Ai blinked at the pouting face of his unit member, the fuzzy images vanishing as his mind snapped to clarity. Reiji was staring at him in concern with his arms folded across his chest.

"What is it, Reiji?" he asked in his light, toneless voice. The brunet rubbed his chin with two fingers.

"You don't normally space out like this," he commented. He tapped his finger against his own cheek. "The last time you acted like this was when you listened to STARISH singing Maji Love 2000%. Did something happen?"

"Yes," Ai responded with robotic honesty. "My ocular receptors are malfunctioning." Reiji's eyes widened.

"You mean...your eyes?" he asked hesitantly. "Is everything blurry? How many fingers am I holding up?" Reiji raised several fingers, shoving his hand in the idol's face.

"Four," Ai told him without missing a beat, mechanically pushing away Reiji's hand. "My vision is not blurry, however. Rather, I am repeatedly seeing events that have already occurred." His fellow idol raised his eyebrows, plopping down on the couch next to the blue-haired idol.

"You mean like memories?" he asked curiously. Ai nodded. "Well, that doesn't sound weird."

"It is not because it is a memory that I am confused. It is a memory of a girl I bumped into for approximately 7.6 seconds. For some reason, I keep seeing her." Reiji was startled by this admission, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Then he grinned and clapped his hands.

"A girl, ehh~?" he replied wryly. "You know love is forbidden for idols, Ai-Ai~" Ai narrowed his eyebrows.

"Love? I do not know if you would call it that. When I saw her, my eyes began to glow. So there must be a malfunction in my ocular - " Reiji suddenly placed his hands on Ai's shoulders.

"This is so exciting, Ai-Ai! I didn't even know if you could fall in love!" One of Ai's cyan blue eyes twitched.

"I do not understand love, Reiji, and according to my data, two people have to be very close to be in love, whereas I only met her for 7.6 seconds. Therefore it cannot be that." Reiji's shoulders slumped in disappointment, and he threw his arms up in melodramatic exasperation. He then grabbed Ai's collar, stomping his feet in dismay.

"Was she at least pretty? Come on, give me details, Ai-Ai~! You and Ran-Ran and Myu-chan are no fun when it comes to romance. Your hearts are all completely cold~, and it makes Rei-chan sad." Ai focused for a moment.

"Pretty?" he articulated. "Oh, she had nice skin." Reiji stopped stomping to take a step back, wiggling his eyebrows with intrigue.

"Oh?" the playful member of Quartet Night drawled. Ai nodded ever-so slightly.

"One hundred percent clear complexion. Eighty percent paleness."

"Do you know who she is?" Reiji asked, resting his chin in his hands.

"According to my data, she is an idol from the 765 Production Agency: Hagiwara Yukiho."

"Y-Yukipo?!" Reiji suddenly exclaimed. His face flickered between shock and solemnity for a few seconds, which confused Ai considering the idol never acted like this. Reiji's eyelids fell halfway over his eyes as he murmured to himself quietly. "But she was...his..." The brunet shook his head, and soon his face relaxed into its typical expression of cheerfulness. "Ah, I've worked with her before. But, ah..." The brunet snapped his fingers. "She has a problem."

"Problem?" Ai asked unblinkingly. Reiji sighed, casting his hand over his eyes.

"She has a severe phobia of men. We could hardly get through a photo shoot together. Alas, I had attempted to soothe her, but it made her anxiety worse, which was upsetting. The photographers in the end were forced to take pictures of us in separate rooms, and the editors solved the problem with photoshop. Unfortunate, as she is a very cute girl~."

"Oh. I know. Her heart was palpitating and she released sweat at an abnormally high rate when she bumped into me. My data tells me that she has had a fear of males since she was eight years old."

"It's a shame," Reiji sighed. "How will she ever find love?" Ai continued to stare at him without a flicker of emotion.

"That's not my problem," he replied. "Anyway, I will fix these memories so they will not be a nuisance anymore. Ah, if only I could do that with people..." Reiji jumped slightly and slowly backed away, raising his hands up defensively as Ai pierced him with his lifeless eyes. They stood silently for about a minute, with the happy-go-lucky idol shifting uncomfortably under Ai's vacant gaze.

"I have work to do," Ai spoke, finally blinking, which caused Reiji to release the breath he'd been holding. Without looking back or saying goodbye, Ai calmly walked away.

Reiji scratched the back of his head with a large sigh.

"Jeez, Ai-Ai, I really felt cold air coming from you!" he said to himself while shaking his mop of curls. He watched Ai's back as he left the room, stroking his nonexistent beard absentmindedly. "But a nuisance, huh? I wonder..."

"Reiji, you have a dangerous expression on your face." Reiji turned to see Ranmaru seated on the couch with his bass guitar, same as he was before. The curly-haired idol threw his hands in the air defensively.

"Ehh?! Ran-Ran, that's no fair! You couldn't even see me from where you're sitting!" he protested in a whining voice.

"I don't need to look at you to sense when you're up to no good. The entire room reeks from your mischief." Reiji clapped his hands against his cheeks.

"Hah~? Ran-Ran, have you been watching me so much to know me so well?" Ranmaru tossed him a fierce glare over his shoulder.

"Don't flatter yourself," the rock idol scoffed. "Everyone knows what you're about the moment they look at you." Reiji chuckled, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Mmmm, I'm not so sure about that." He then placed his hands on his hips. "But opening yourself up to people is a good quality, so I'll thank you for the compliment, anyway~." Ranmaru turned back to tuning his guitar.

"You're a moron," he muttered, plucking a string as he cranked the tuner. Reiji waved one of his hands flippantly at Ranmaru.

"Good talk, Ran-Ran!"

Reiji faced away from his grumpy partner with a determined gleam in his gray eyes.

 _Then it's decided,_ he thought proudly.

* * *

"Do you really think she's ready for this?"

"I...it will be hard on her. But she'll never overcome her fears if she doesn't take a few risks."

"In any case, we shouldn't force her to do anything she doesn't want to. Her fear will become worse if she is exposed to it unwillingly."

"Of course. We'll have to ask for her decision then."

The sound of the door creaking open interrupted their conversation.

"Ah, Yukiho."

The timid idol stood in the threshold with her mouth formed in an 'o' shape. She had been standing behind the door for the last minute, wondering what it was that warranted such a curious discussion.

"Good morning, Producer, Takagi-shachou, Ritsuko-san," she greeted in her soft voice. They stared at her with such concerned expressions that it made her fidget. "U-um, is there something wrong?" The Producer smiled gently at her.

"Well, we got a request for a surprisingly good job offer for you," he told her. Her eyes lit up at this information.

"F-for me? Oh, thank you very much!" Yukiho bowed heavily. As a certain realization dawned on her, she raised her head. "But, um, why are you worried, if it's a good job?"

"Well - " Ritsuko started. She sighed, walking over to place a hand on Yukiho's shoulder. "It will be out of your comfort zone - we're just not sure by how much." Yukiho straightened at this admission. _Out of my comfort zone? That sounds scary, but..._

"W-well, that's - that's why I became an idol. To change...to become more confident. S-so if this will help me, then please, let me take the job."

The three adults stood in shock for a moment before relaxing. Takagi chuckled.

"You've gained a lot more spirit since you first came here," the President remarked. Yukiho beamed at this.

"Thank you," she replied, forcing herself not to stutter. Lifting her chin stiffly, she continued, "So, what's the job?" Ritsuko handed her a paper booklet.

"You have a modeling job for spring fashions with Mikaze Ai from the Shining Agency." Yukiho smiled.

"Ah, Mikaze Ai?" she asked. Ritsuko exchanged nervous glances with the Producer before he looked at Yukiho.

"Mikaze Ai is a member of Quartet Night. This...is him." Producer handed her a magazine with the male idol on the cover of it. His cool eyes stared up at her from the page with an air of melancholy. Yukiho froze.

"H-h-h- _him_?!" she squeaked. "A-as in, a... _a_..." Ritsuko blew out a breath from her pursed lips.

"A teenaged _boy_ , yes. He's about a year younger than you," she admitted. The Producer smiled apologetically.

"He was in the Triple S event last summer. He and his group are both extremely popular. Actually, I think you had a job with Kotobuki Reiji a while ago not long after you first debuted. He was still a solo idol at that point, however." Sweat quickly began to bead up and slide down Yukiho's face at the mention of the male idol.

"K-K-K-Kotobuki-san?!" she shrieked. "I don't have to work with him too, do I?!"

"No!" the Producer assured her quickly. By this time, however, she had already pulled out her shovel.

"I-I-I'm going to dig a hole a-and b-b-bury myself!" Yukiho exclaimed. Otonashi Kotori, the office secretary, entered the group chuckling at that moment with a pile of paperwork in her arms.

"Yukiho-san had a fright due to Kotobuki-san's flirtatious personality," she remembered aloud. Clenching her fist, Kotori continued with hearts in her eyes. "It was undoubtedly cute! Straight out of a shoujo manga! Ha~h..." The secretary sighed, her cheeks tinted pink. The Producer placed a hand on Yukiho's trembling shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Yukiho," he told her. "From what I've seen, Mikaze-san is nothing like Kotobuki-san. He is very serious about his work." Yukiho glanced up at him with tear-filled eyes.

"O-okay," she replied, wiping her face.

"Like Takagi-shachou said, we won't make you do anything you don't want to," Ritsuko spoke up sincerely. "It's entirely up to you." Yukiho stared at the floor scratching her arm, her eyes narrowed in thought.

 _It's a great offer, but am I ready to work with a boy? I've met him before, haven't I?_ she wondered. _I was scared of him then. His eyes seemed to glow, but they were so cold. But will it be the same again? Now that I think about it, haven't I seen him much longer ago? I can't remember..._

Yukiho sighed, her breath lifting her bangs from her forehead. Wrapping her arms around her chest, she tilted her chin up to see their expectant faces.

"Well...wh-when 765Pro had our first concert...I remember having to stand up and sing in front of all those village men. And it was scary then, too...but I managed somehow. It was a success. So...so maybe...m-maybe this is like then."

They were all startled by her words.

"Th-this must be a test. So I have to take this chance. I-I have to overcome my fears, or else I haven't accomplished anything!" Yukiho rested her arms at her sides, holding her gaze towards the ground as she softly curled her fingers. She flinched as Takagi began to laugh heartily, and everyone else stared at him in surprise.

"There's that spirit. You will do well, Yukiho-kun." Eyes widening, a smile spread to either cheek of the mousy idol.

"Thank you."

 _I won't let you down,_ she internally promised.


	2. 10%

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Androids apparently understand no concept related to personal space, but they are perhaps immune to one's androphobia.

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* * *

 An aging professor glanced up from his paperwork at the sound of the door slowly squeaking ajar. His eyebrows raised in a mixture of confusion and concern; he knew only Ai could be there, but Ai never paid him a visit apart from his regular check-ups.

"Ah, Ai, I am surprised to see you," he greeted as the composed idol stepped into the room. Ai's eyes rolled to glance briefly at the bed where Aine laid before his gaze snapped to the Doctor's. The professor was startled at the slightly troubled glaze in the android's eyes, as opposed to his typical indifference.

"I am aware that we have not arranged an appointment, however, there is an issue that must be addressed." The Professor frowned.

"Is there something wrong? Are you malfunctioning?" he questioned, placing a hand on the cyan-haired boy's shoulder.  Ever since he created Ai, he felt as though the android was his own son, just as genuinely as Aine was his nephew.

"Yes," Ai bluntly replied.  He curled his hand into a fist over his heart. "My ocular receptors are malfunctioning." The professor crossed his arms over his chest, puzzled by the atypical gesture.

"And how long has this been going on for?" he asked.  Ai blinked quickly while he processed the information for output.

"Three weeks, four days, seventeen hours, thirty-one minutes, twenty-thre - " The professor elevated a hand to stop him, well aware that he could and likely would continue into the nanoseconds.

"That's fine, I understand. Well..." The professor glanced over at Aine sleeping with a mellow smile. "That's about as long as Aine's condition has changed a bit."

"Changed?" Ai queried, tilting his head to the side. The professor nodded.

"He hasn't woken up, but there has been an unusual amount of brain activity in his memory region, which is strange since he usually never taps into his memories - it's too painful for him. Tell me, do you recall what happened when your ocular receptors first began malfunctioning? And what is the nature of the malfunction?"  The robotic idol inclined his head back to alignment with the rest of his body.

"I bumped into Hagiwara Yukiho from the 765 Production Agency while I was heading to my job that day. For some reason, my memory banks keep replaying that encounter over my ocular receptors." The professor sighed a sigh of relief.

"Ah, I see," he replied. Ai stared at him expectantly. "Hagiwara Yukiho was Aine's favourite rising female idol. He never got to work with her, but he knew her for a short period of time when they were younger - maybe they were friends - and he appreciated her singing. He had one or two of her early CDs in his room. It wasn't enough to keep him from...you know...but it brought him some temporary joy."

"Friends..." Ai echoed, eyes flicking to the perpetually unconscious patient. He narrowed his eyes. "So am I reacting to Yukiho because of his memories?"

"Yes. Due to your mindlink, I suppose some of his feelings of affection towards her transferred to you.  I doubt it will be much of a problem. In fact..." His voice trailed off as Ai fixed him with his analytical gaze. Unlike most people, the Professor was comfortable with it, since he was the idol's creator, and he practically raised him for a while after he first powered on. He saw the blankness in his face almost like that of a toddler, though he was designed with the maturity of a fifteen year old (he was modified slightly to account for his being a year older now, however the things he learned himself during this time did most of the aging for him).  The Doctor met the teenager's gaze evenly.

"It's nothing." He paused, moving his head from side to side. "Yet. Check back with me in a week, same time, to let me know if things continue on like this." Ai blinked once, probably making a reminder in his internal calendar.

"Understood," he replied. Without another word, he left the way he came.

The professor made his way over to Aine's bed to monitor his vital signs, and was surprised to see his blood pressure had decreased marginally since he checked yesterday, following a trend from the previous days.

"This next week could be very interesting," he mused aloud.

* * *

 "I still do not see the use in you accompanying me, Reiji."

Ai gazed impassively out the window of Reiji's old car as his fellow unit member started up the punch buggy. The cyan-haired idol had a modeling job today with an idol from another agency, and usually for such independent jobs he would prefer to go alone, as it was more efficient. But Reiji had oddly requested to drive him since it was his day off, even after Ai had pointed out the futility of this favor. He then informed him that it was just something friends do, and he wanted to cheer him on. Ai still could not comprehend this, however, though he knew Reiji was unpredictable and it fit his character to do such baseless things. The brunet laughed lightly.

"Well, this job is actually an interesting offer for you, so I was curious. Did you know you'll be modeling with a female idol?" Ai merely blinked at this piece of information.

"No, I did not. Shining refused to tell me who I would be working with, but I did not think it would matter either way. It is odd that you would know, however." Ai cocked his head, glancing at him from the corner of his eyes. Reiji's own eyes widened and he laughed again nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

"Is it? Shining is strange like that, ahahaha~" The teenager's sharp gaze locked onto Reiji's hands.

"Both hands on the wheel," he rebuked coldly. Reiji turned his head to look at him, his eyebrows slanted upwards.

"Eh? I'm a good driver, I can handle doing it with one hand," Reiji protested.

"Eyes on the road," Ai continued, ignoring his defense. The sanguine idol complied with a deep frown.

"To think, a teenager years away from getting his license telling a twenty-five-year-old how to drive," he muttered childishly.

"It only speaks to your incompetence," Ai retorted with a tone of indifference, to which Reiji shivered emphatically.

"So cold!" he cried. Staring intently at the road this time, he continued on an ominous note, "But you can't stay cold forever." Ai narrowed his cyan eyes at him.

"I do not know what you mean." The older man just smiled knowingly.

"You will."

* * *

 Yukiho's heart beat violently as she prepared herself in her dressing room, the weight of many years of anxiety on her chest. Her throat was dry from repeating the words, "Nice to meet you" and "Let's work well together" a dozen times with differing inflections - practice for when she would find herself face-to-face with the cool Mikaze Ai.

She had still never successfully worked with a male idol. Even for dramas and movies, she only ever starred with her friends from 765Pro. Concerts were an entirely different thing because she was on stage, and individual faces could hardly be discerned in the darkness - only the thousands of colourful glowsticks.  She could let out all her feelings in song while the crowd cheered her on, and only then was she assured that they were on her side, none intending her harm.  As Yukiho now stared into the identically fearful eyes of her reflection, her vision began to swim with events from long ago.

_'Yukiho-chan is so cute when she's scared!'_

_'Looks like we've got her cornered.'_

_'Hey! Look at me, Yukiho-chan!'_

Yukiho pressed her hand against her forehead at the painful memory; she could almost feel the chip from the stone hitting her, followed by her own warm blood gushing down her face in front of a team of young, taunting boys. Tears welled up in her eyes at the recollection.

_'Yukiho, the men you see around the house are all my disciples. Be sure to stay out of their way.'_

_'Move, stupid girl.'_

_'I didn't expect Hagiwara-sama would be raising such a pitiful mouse.'_

_'You are turning out to be a severely disappointing child. I can never pass my business onto you.'_

"Yukiho."

Gasping, the girl glanced up to see her Producer standing in the doorway.

"Ah, P-P-Producer!" she exclaimed, roughly wiping at her eyes. It had taken her a few months to get to this point, but now she at least felt fairly at ease around her producer. He was the only member of the opposite sex (that she could remember) that had shown her true kindness, aside from the friendly village men who attended her first concert, and for that she was grateful. Unfortunately, it was difficult to transfer her ease with him to other men. She knew that there were many good men out there, and she felt ashamed for showing such fear, but she as soon as she looked at a man or boy in the eye, the memories would flood back to her and all she could see were demons.

"Are you still sure about this?" the Producer asked her. It was likely he could tell she'd been crying. Yukiho nodded.

"I...I have to try," she mumbled. The young man gave her a thumbs-up.

"Don't push yourself too much, though of course you want to do a good job. Just see if you can say 'hi' to him. Or maybe not even that! You can completely ignore him - just block him out so you can pose next to him!" Yukiho giggled.

"Isn't that m-mean?" she questioned softly. He smiled.

"Good luck."

Taking a deep breath, with her bangs shielding her eyes and her head bowed low, Yukiho stood from her chair. After remaining still for a few seconds, she then began to move.

_One step...two steps...three...four..._

She slowly quickened her pace to regular walking speed until she had left the room at last and entered the studio. However, just as soon as she exited she bumped into someone.

Cyan eyes pierced her from above.

"Uwaahh!" she shrieked, flinching back and covering her face. _I-I-It's Mikaze Ai! He m-m-may be a year younger, but h-he's so t-t-tall!_ she thought, cursing the fact that even in her mind she stuttered when faced with her fears.

"Ah, Yukiho, I have been meaning to speak with you," the boy told her in a matter-of-fact tone. _I-I thought I prepared for this!  
_

"Hey, Ai-Ai! Be gentle with her!" Yukiho stiffened at the added sound of a familiar flirtatious voice. She didn't dare spare him a glance; as it was she was struggling not to slip into a catatonic state. Apparently he had begun to make his way over to the pair, but Ai raised his hand back at him, still facing the distressed girl.

"Stop. You would not be able to handle this." Reiji cried out in defense.

"But Ai-Ai - !"

"Yukiho," Ai said to the fearful idol, ignoring Reiji as he leaned towards her. She shrunk back. Confused, he moved in closer so that she wound up pressed against a wall. He stared her down with his clear, emotionless eyes.

"Wh-wh-what d-do you w-want from me?" Her voice cracked as her eyes overflowed with tears. In her mind, he began to grow horns and a spiked tail, shadows enshrouding his figure as his light eyes glowed menacingly.

"I was expecting the chances of you being afraid of me would be ninety-nine point nine-nine-nine percent," he told her.

"E-eh?!" she stammered, holding her arms above her head. _Why does he talk like that?_ she wondered internally. His imposing presence made the encounter much more jarring than she had anticipated

"But there is no need for that," he continued. "I am aware you have a crippling phobia of men, so I will let you in on a secret."

Yukiho breathed in respite when he moved away from her, though her heart was still racing a mile a minute. Some of Ai's imagined demonic features began to fade, though they still flickered around him in Yukiho's eyes. She cocked her head to signal for him to continue.

"You spend a significant percentage of time with Kikuchi Makoto from your agency. She is a female who is forced to dress in a masculine fashion for work, correct?" Yukiho gulped and nodded. "She is the same as me." The girl's trembling suddenly ceased as she attempted to wrap her head around his sudden admission.

"Wh..." she whimpered.

"I am actually a girl, but I pretend to be a boy for idol work," Ai told her blandly. "I knew it would waste a lot of time for you to be nervous on the job, so I decided to tell you the truth." Yukiho blinked several times in quick succession. It took her a moment to fully understand his confession over her anxiety. Her eyes widened slowly as everything sunk in for her.

_So...all along..._

* * *

 "So...so you're not a real boy?" Ai shook his head ever-so slightly. It wasn't a complete lie, when she put it like that. Also, he could graph a perfect curve of how quickly her heart rate returned to normal levels. Yukiho finally brightened. "Oh...th-thank you for telling me. S-so much. This was really kind of you."

"Kind?" he repeated, his thin eyebrows furrowing. "You're naive like Reiji. It's not kindness, it's efficiency." The timid idol blinked.

"Eh?" Her eyes widened again at the mention of the playful idol - she seemed to block out his following words.  "U-um, will K-Kotobuki-san be taking photos with us?" she yelped. Ai turned away from her to begin to walk towards the set.

"No," he replied. "He simply decided to be here. It's inefficient, but - " Ai stopped when he felt a small weight bumping into him from behind. He turned his head to glance back at Yukiho, who stood very close to him. He stared at her for her to explain.

"Ah, s-sorry. Just..." Yukiho took a gulp of air. "I...I know that Kotobuki-s-san probably means well, but it...would best for me to stay close to someone I would be more comfortable with...while I'm in the same room as him. I want...to slowly overcome my fears, but...I-I need to take it at my own pace." Ai nodded.

"I see," he responded. Turning to face Reiji, who was standing approximately five metres and forty-seven centimetres away, he called to him in his toneless voice. "Reiji." The curly-haired male perked up at the sound of his name, akin to a puppy.

"Say, what's up, Ai-Ai?" he yelled back, cupping his hands around his mouth. Ai stared at him with his cool eyes.

"Go sit in that corner over there." He pointed to a dark corner at the opposite end of the room. Reiji then made a defensive stance, flailing his arms around.

"What?! Ai-Ai, you can't be serious! Are you punishing me?"

"I am always serious. Is that not something you once said?" Reiji chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

"Ah, well, I did say that, but...but why do you want me to go into the corner?!" he complained. Ai's cyan eyes flashed.

"Your presence is a burden to Yukiho. I told you your being here would be inefficient." Reiji glaciated.

"A burden?! Hey, Yukipo, is that true...? Huh?" He glanced anxiously around the studio. "Where is Yukipo?"

The demure idol peeked out from behind Ai, and then peeped anxiously upon catching Reiji's eye. The male's shoulders slumped, seemingly realizing his fate.

"I...am a burden..." he murmured, visibly depressed.

"You are," Ai agreed. "So face the wall when you get to the corner and don't be noisy." Reiji sighed heavily, defeated. He slowly trudged towards the corner and plopped down on the floor once he was there.

"U-um, Ai-chan," Yukiho started, tugging the back of his shirt. "I feel bad making him sit in the corner." Ai focused on Reiji, heightening his hearing range to ensure that the male idol was silent. His eyes narrowed.

"Reiji, stop muttering to yourself," he commanded tonelessly. Reiji raised his head and pouted back at the strict idol.

"You're going to deny me even that?" he whined. The cyan-haired boy's eyes slitted even further.

"I said, 'don't be noisy.'" Reiji sobbed.

"I can't help if you have supersonic hearing..." he muttered.

"Supersonic is a speed, not a decibel level," Ai corrected him. Reiji did not respond save for another quiet whine. Ai then turned around to face Yukiho.  "Hm? You say that, but your heart rate has decreased to sixty beats-per-minute, which indicates perfect calmness as well as cardiovascular fitness. Your respiratory rate has also slowed to normal levels." Yukiho blinked several times at this evaluation.

"O-oh..." she replied, bumping her index fingers together. Her cheeks then turned pink. "I...I guess I do feel better with K-Kotobuki-san like that." Sweat running down her temple, she suddenly waved her hands around wildly. "But hopefully h-he doesn't have to stay like that for the whole shoot!" Ai's blank stare flickered to Reiji, who was quickly creating a large area of gloom around his corner.

"We will see." He glanced back at Yukiho and his eyes widened slightly at the smile on her face.

"Th-thank you again for your concern, Ai-chan," she said. He averted his eyes, feeling his chest pound for some inexplicable reason. _The same as before,_ he thought. He was about to tell her that he knew his actions would have a higher rate of success, but before he could open his mouth, the photographer called out to them.

"Okay, Mikaze-san, Hagiwara-san!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Let's have a good shoot!"

"Y-yes!" Yukiho exclaimed while Ai simply nodded. For the first shot, the woman had them standing back-to-back, with Yukiho running her hand through her hair and Ai with his hands in his pockets, both staring into some unseen distance.

"Yes! Yes! Your auras go together so well! Timid and cool!  Cold blue and warm brown! Okay, Mikaze-san, put your hand on her head. Yes, just like that! Now Hagiwara-san, pull his sleeve. Ahh, very cute!"

* * *

 Yukiho's producer leaned against the wall with his arms folded over his chest, feeling perplexed by the female idol's calmness. She demonstrated no symptoms of anxiety whatsoever, as though she were merely working with one of her fellow 765Pro idols rather than a pretty male idol she'd never met personally before. Just minutes ago she had broken down from apprehension at the thought of being near him; now she could allow him to pat her head without reaching for her shovel. And he knew Mikaze Ai had a reputation for being aloof - in fact it was his selling point - so he could not comprehend why Yukiho would feel so relaxed.

 _Unless...something has changed,_ the Producer wondered.

"Hmmm, I'm kind of jealous." The producer jumped at the sound of a cheerful voice.

"Ah, Kotobuki-sa - " Reiji raised his hand with his eyes closed.

"Please, I hate formalities. Call me Rei-chan." The producer gawked.

"Um, haha, how about I just call you Rei-san?" he asked. Reiji sighed.

"If you must." Reiji mirrored the Producer's position as he studied Ai and Yukiho alongside him. "To think, the chilly Ai-Ai could cure Yukipo of her fear, and the charming Rei-chan could not." The Producer smiled.

"It is interesting. I have no idea how he did it, because it took her a few months to trust even me. He did say something to her earlier," the Producer remarked, recalling the moment when Ai had scared her up against a wall. He had felt very tense at that moment, because Yukiho was like a younger sister to him, and seeing her petrified like that nearly spurred him into action. But he was amazed when not thirty seconds later she returned to normal.

"He did whisper something to her. It was kind of romantic for Ai-Ai~. I need to ask him the magic words later." The Producer glanced sideways at Reiji. The idol's gray eyes were dark beneath the shadow of his hat.  Looking back at the two idols on the set, the younger man shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know about romantic, but..." his voice trailed off.  "It is interesting."

* * *

 "Okay, good work, Mikaze-san, Hagiwara-san!" the photographer called. The two idols loosened from their last pose. "Now, go change into your second outfits, please." Yukiho beamed at Ai.

"Th-that was kind of fun, right Ai-chan?" she asked.

"Fun?" Ai questioned flatly, eyes boring into hers.

"Ah, um..." Unsettled by his impassivity, Yukiho turned to return to her dressing room. Before she could move, however, she spotted Reiji standing next to her producer and staring at them, directly next to the door. A dark cloud loomed over her face as tremors passed through her muscles.

"Reiji, why are you not sitting in the corner?" Ai demanded coldly.

"A-ah, Ai-Ai! I just left for a minu - " The cyan-haired idol appeared immediately next to him.

"Go," he ordered. With great reluctance, though driven by the sight of Yukiho's bluish face, Reiji sent himself back to the corner from whence he came, dragging his feet as he went.

"I-I-I'm really s-sorry for disturbing y-you, K-K-Kotobuki-san!" Yukiho shrieked, bowing low several times as tears streamed from her eyes.

"Don't worry about it, Yukipo!" Reiji reassured her without turning around. Nodding repeatedly, Yukiho flew to the dressing room and slammed the door shut. Afterwards, Ai calmly made his way to his own dressing room on the other end of the room. When he passed by Reiji's designated corner, the brunet spoke up.

"So what were the magic words, Ai-Ai?" he asked slyly. Ai paused.

"What do you mean?"  His eyebrows slanted downwards as Reiji chuckled.

"To soothe the ruffled Yukipo," he answered, peeking at him from under his hat. His eyes appeared to dance with intrigue.

"Oh." Ai reached for the door knob of his room. "I told her I was a girl." Twisting the knob, he opened the door slightly and went inside, shutting it quietly behind him. Reiji laughed dryly again.

"I see," he said, removing his hat to spin it around on his index finger. As he replaced his hat back on his head, he suddenly gripped its brim tightly with two fists as realization struck him. "Wait - WHAT?!" Reiji leaped to his feet and hurried over to Ai's room, banging on the door. "Ai-Ai, what did you do?!" Ai emerged three seconds later, fully dressed in his new outfit. Reiji always found it unnerving how quickly the younger idol could get changed.

"I told you. I told her I was a girl forced to dress as a boy to be an idol, like Ringo."

"So you lied to her?" Reiji exclaimed. Dusting off his shoulders, Ai nodded.

"It was the option with the highest potential rate of success. She is comfortable with a girl from her agency that looks like a boy, so the same could be applied to our situation. I could have scared her into paralysis to be able to stand still next to me, but it would not have been as effective." A drop of sweat rolled down Reiji's temple at Ai's clinical rationale.

"So cold..." As Ai began to walk away, Reiji followed him. "So are you going to tell her the truth after the shoot?" Ai blinked, glancing back at Reiji.

"Why?" Reiji's face clouded over like Yukiho's from a few minutes ago.

"Because...!" He stroked his nonexistent beard as he usually did when in deep thought. Yukiho was a girl, and a cute girl at that, so for Reiji it was natural to treat her honestly. "Because it's not good to lie to a lady?" he tried weakly. This gentlemanly suggestion did not fly with Ai; he blinked several times as he attempted to process the logic behind the statement, though his expression remained vacant.

"Try again," he deadpanned. Reiji snapped his fingers.

"Because if you tell her you're a boy after she already became comfortable with you as a girl, then she might lose her fear of men!" Ai squinted at Reiji.

"But how does that benefit me?" he asked. Reiji looked as though Ai had just slapped him in the way he recoiled at his simple question, which perplexed the boy, as the two actions varied radically.  Ai pursed his lips in annoyance as Reiji suddenly grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"Not everything is about personal benefits!" he chided. He ceased shaking him upon seeing the lack of influence his words held over the cool idol. "But if you have to work with her again, she won't be afraid of you." Ai's processor immediately pinpointed the contradiction in Reiji's argument.

"But she won't be afraid of me anyway if she continues to believe that I am a girl," he replied.

"Well - it's the nice thing to do," Reiji stated finally. Ai's eyes widened marginally at this. "I know you have a heart in there somewhere, Ai-Ai." The mop-top idol then took off his hat. He placed it on his wrist and rolled it up and around his shoulders to his other hand before popping it back on his head. Reiji then formed his hands into gun-shapes, pointing his index fingers at Ai as he clicked his tongue. "You just gotta let it open."

Ai glanced across the room to see that Yukiho had finished changing and was currently clinging to her door as she waited for him. He looked back at Reiji.

"Go back to your corner," he said. Reiji pouted at him before he returned to the dark corner.  Ai's gaze flickered back to Yukiho as she inched her way back into the studio.

_A nice thing to do._

He placed a hand over his artificial heart.

_Reiji is naive as usual._

"Mikaze-san, let's get going!" the photographer called. Ai bowed his head, lowering his hand back to rest at his side before walking towards the set. He noticed a park bench had been added to the scene; Yukiho was currently sitting on it with her legs crossed, wearing a floral summer dress with intricate white sandals.

"Okay, Mikaze-san, for this shot I want you to sit on top of the back of the bench, next to Hagiwara-san." They continued with several more park-themed photos, even one where Ai and Yukiho sat head-to-head on a mat of fake grass and flowers, before moving onto the next pair of outfits where they both wore designer glasses.

After a few hours with the photographer, during which they posed for paired as well as single shots, Reiji had emerged from his corner bit by bit. Ai, with his hawkish vision, was aware of this, however Yukiho was distracted enough by their work that she got used to the additional idol's presence (so long as he didn't speak up) that Ai decided not to pressure Reiji to go back.

At the end of the shoot, Yukiho yawned and turned to Ai with a sweet smile. She waved to the photographer as she passed with her bagged equipment, rushing to the exit.

"I'm so happy this was a success," she told Ai. "I was really nervous at first because I thought you were a boy, so I'm grateful that you told me your secret.  Oh!  I promise I won't tell anyone, by the way.  Not even Makoto-chan!" Staring at Ai's face, she continued, "Though, now I kind of wish you were a b-boy. You're really nice and calm, so...maybe you would have helped me overcome my fears." Ai stared back at her wordlessly.

"Yukiho, it's time to go." Yukiho whirled around to wave at her producer.

"Um, I'll be there in a minute!" At his nod, she turned back to Ai, whilst her Producer left the room to take a call. "Hopefully we can have more jobs together. I wouldn't mind working with you again. So - "

"Yukiho." The girl jumped at the cyan-haired idol's sudden speech. He strained himself to keep his expression neutral, and he could see his own hands shaking in his peripheral vision.

"Eh? What is it?" Ai continued to stare at her.

"I am not a girl." Yukiho's eyes widened.

"Wh-what? B-but you - "

"I lied." Ai inclined his head to one side. "It was the most efficient course of action to ensure a successful photo shoot. Your anxiety would have wasted time." Yukiho's gaze was conflicted as she studied him from head-to-toe, attempting to adjust to the revelation. She squeaked as he leaned forward towards her. "Are you afraid of me again?"

Ai could sense that her heart seemed to be at war with itself, fluctuating from pumping blood at a high rate, then a normal rate, then high again. Her body acted as though it were confused as to how to react. Her brown eyes searched his cyan pair desperately.

"I...I-I don't know," she replied truthfully.

"You do not know if you are afraid?" Yukiho shook her head, her bangs falling over her eyes. She scratched her neck.

"I was...comfortable with you, thinking you were a girl, and I had a good time. But I'm normally afraid of m-men, so finding out that you're a boy now..."

"But he's a gentleman, no?" They both looked up to see Reiji approaching.  He had his arms raised and his hands flicked out with a cheerful grin on his face. "He's not _quite_ at my level, but Ai-Ai is decent; he wouldn't try anything - well, besides making you a test subject...but he does that with everyone. He would have treated you the same if you knew he was a guy."

Yukiho hid behind Ai as soon as she noticed Reiji's proximity to them, and remained there as he spoke, peeking out at him from behind the sixteen-year-old's arm. There seemed to have been a flash as she did all this in one quick movement. She kept a tight grasp on Ai's wrist with both of her hands.

Reiji raised an eyebrow at them.

"Well there you have it, Ai-Ai; Yukipo." He smirked. Ai could feel the girl's palms begin to sweat, though she did not release his arm.

"I-I guess..." Yukiho stuttered, "I...I'm not s-so afraid of you, Ai-ch- Ai- _kun_." Ai turned his head to glance at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Maybe if you become friends, Yukipo will lose her fear of men entirely," Reiji suggested craftily. His mouth fell open somewhat at the sight of Ai glancing down at the floor in deep thought. The younger idol curled and uncurled his fist, knocking it lightly against his chest.

"It would be useful," Ai remarked, eyes flashing, "for research purposes." He moved 180 degrees around to look Yukiho in the eye, lowering his head to her level. He analyzed her face carefully. "There is a sixty percent chance that you would be a more worthwhile test subject than Syo. I still do not _completely_ understand the concept of a 'friend.'"

Yukiho emitted a short, high-pitched sound, taking a step back, though her heart rate did not increase by much. Her brown orbs rounded like saucers.

Reiji began to laugh anxiously. He reached forward to pull Ai back by the shoulder, though the younger idol had remarkable strength.

"Eheh, Ai-Ai, don't ruin this beautiful moment. This is a lovely union, please don't scare half of it away." Within a second, Ai backed off from Yukiho and walked away towards the exit without a single farewell. Reiji followed him so as not to cause the 765Pro idol any further distress; he did, however, raise two fingers in a 'peace' sign back at her as he moved. Yukiho was left to her own bewilderment.

"See you again, Yukipo!" She waved back tentatively as her Producer joined her at her side.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked. Yukiho's eyelids fluttered several times before she responded.

"Um, yes," she said quietly. She let the Producer go ahead of her and then went after him.

"So were you able to face your fears, Yukiho?" he asked her as he opened the door to their taxi. "You did a great job." She ducked her head and went inside.

"I..." she began.

_"I was expecting the chances of you being afraid of me would be ninety-nine point nine-nine-nine percent."_

_"Are you afraid of me again?"_

_"I still do not_ completely _understand the concept of a 'friend.'"_

Yukiho lurched forward in her seat as the driver accelerated abruptly. She tilted her head as she looked to her Producer and smiled.

"I think so."

In truth, as she gazed out her window, her heartbeat drummed ferociously inside her chest, keeping her in a state of spiked adrenaline. She had never felt a fear that roared like a lion before. Eyelids sliding over her caramel-coloured irises, she wondered to herself,

_What is this feeling?_

* * *

 Silence permeated the blue punch buggy so profoundly that Reiji, suffocated by it, rolled down his window to feel the wailing of the wind against his cheek. Ai chose to watch his driving to ensure that he wasn't making any maneuvers that would increase the probability of their getting into an accident. Periodically, he would make dull criticisms of Reiji's technique. Grinning at a pretty female driver next to him, Reiji decided to break the silence.

"So, Ai-Ai, you decided to tell Yukipo the truth after all," he remarked, glancing at Ai in his rear-view mirror. The melancholic-type idol stared out at the road with his chin propped up on his hand, slowly blinking.

"I was forced to," he stated. Reiji frowned.

"Forced to? I thought you said it was unnecessary to tell her the truth." Ai turned his gaze to his hands, studying them intently. _They were shaking before._

"I did not plan to speak to her at all about it. But I did." Reiji smiled knowingly. The cool idol's fingers twitched. "I lost control of myself."

"That sounds about right," the brunet replied, narrowing his eyes.

"Wrong," Ai responded. Reiji raised his eyebrows.

"Huh?" Ai turned his analytical eyes onto the older man.

"In this circumstance you would say, 'That's not like you, Ai-Ai. You're supposed to be the flawless idol.'"

"Wha-? Why did you figure that?"

"Simple deduction based on all of your past interactions with me. No matter, since my prediction was incorrect." Reiji chuckled as Ai pursed his lips in slight irritation.

"Hey, Ai-Ai, people are always changing. You can't guess what they'll say next just going off of what they said before." Ai leaned back in his seat, glancing back at the road ahead.

"Huh. My prediction was correct this time." Reiji knocked his head on the wheel. "Eyes on the road."

* * *

 "'Mornin', Yukiho!"

"Eh? U-um, Makoto-chan, what is everyone looking at?"

Yukiho walked into the office the next day to the sight of all her fellow 765Pro idols crowded around her best friend on the couch. Makoto was currently cradling a magazine in her arms.

"Yukiho-chan, you did really well at the shoot yesterday!" Haruka, the centre of 765ALLSTARS and Yukiho's other best friend commented. "You look so natural!" Yukiho smiled shyly, blushing at all the attention.

"Well, I wasn't really very nervous," she admitted. "Ai-kun was very easy to work with."

"Ai-kun?" one of the Futami twins queried mischievously.

"You're on first-name-basis with him already?" the other one added with a snicker. Yukiho flapped her arms in protest.

"Aah, n-no! It's because I-I called him Ai-chan before I found out..." Makoto set the magazine down.

"Before you found out what, Yukiho?" she asked. Yukiho's face reddened even further.

"Uhh...h-he told me he was actually a girl who did idol work as a boy - kind of like you, Makoto-chan! - so that I wouldn't be afraid of him." Makoto's eyes widened before she pouted.

"S-sneaky bastard..." the tomboy muttered. Yukiho knew she hated modeling as a boy, though she was forced to for work because of her naturally virile appearance. Yayoi - the youngest girl after the twins - leaped over to the mousy idol at that moment.

"Wait, so Mikaze Ai-san is actually a girl?!" she exclaimed. Yukiho shook her head and hands furiously.

"N-no! He just told me that to help me be able to work with him. He said it was 'efficient' that way."

"'Efficient...'" the eleven other girls echoed; Yukiho imagined question marks popping up over their heads. She sighed.

"Well, that was nice of him, still," the eldest of them named Azusa remarked, pressing her hand against her own cheek. Yukiho's face lit up and she nodded.

"A-Ai-kun is really helpful!" she agreed, her eyes shining. She raised her hands as she clenched them into fists. "He knows so much and he's really blunt and disciplined, which helped me to improve myself! And he's really calm, s-so I felt like everything would work out smoothly!"

The other girls blinked at her. Yukiho wrapped her arms in a sort of cocoon around herself when the twins suddenly threw their arms around her shoulders, grinning madly at her.

"Say, Yuki-pyon..." Ami began.

"Could this be..." Mami piled on. The young twins locked arms behind the cowardly seventeen-year-old, reaching out with their other arms towards each other.

"A confession?" they sang in unison, doing a high-five. Yukiho glanced from one to the other, making her dizzy.

"N-no! I-I just look up to him like Takane-san."

"Yukiho, does this mean you're cured of your phobia now?" Makoto queried. Yukiho's straight hair swished as she shook her head. She remembered vividly how she hid behind the cyan-haired idol whenever Reiji talked to her.

"No, I'm just comfortable with Ai-kun. He...confused me into not being afraid of him." Stepping over to sit next to Makoto on the couch, Yukiho pulled the magazine into her own lap. "'765Pro and Shining Agency Mash-Up: Hagiwara Yukiho and Mikaze Ai Pair Up to Show Off Spring Fashions,'" she read aloud. The subtitle then caught her eye, so she proceeded to read. "'Rumors of partnership in future projects...'" Yukiho squeaked. "Future partnership?"

"Magazine writers sometimes say things like that to add spice to their articles," Miki, the resident blonde told her. Nodding, Yukiho flipped to the picture section. As soon as her eyes landed on the page, she gasped.

"Did I really look like that?" she breathed. In the first image, Yukiho's smile lit up her face as Ai pat her head awkwardly (as intended) with his eyes averted. The colours in their hair and eyes were smooth and vibrant, as though they were in a painting. The conglomerate heiress named Iori looked over Yukiho's shoulder as she hugged her pink stuffed rabbit to her chest.

"Nah. They usually use photoshop," she replied.

"O-oh." Makoto glared at the long-haired brunette, who shrugged.

"What? They do photoshop for everyone."

"Yes, but Yukiho probably still looked adorable without it!" Makoto retorted. Iori rolled her eyes.

"Of course she did - she's that type of idol. I was just saying." Expecting an argument to broil, Yukiho flipped to the next page rapidly enough to create a loud rustling sound, even ripping the page from its binding; this served to interrupt the little squabble. One of the girls bent down to check if any loose paper had fallen.

"Miki is jealous, Yukiho-chan," Miki remarked, resting her chin on the timid girl's shoulder to view the photos with her. "Those sun dresses are really stylish and cute. And that hat. And those glasses." Miki lazily slapped her finger onto the page. Tapping her chin with her other hand, the laidback blonde added, "And Ai-kun. Though Miki still prefers Honey."

"I-I'm sure you'll get another photo shoot soon, Miki-chan. You do really well in them," Yukiho assured her self-consciously.

"Miki knows," Miki replied bluntly. "But Yukiho-chan had a good shoot herself."

"She did, didn't she?" Makoto chimed in with a touch of fondness for her childhood friend, placing her elbow on the meek idol's shoulder. "And she doesn't look nervous in any of her shots with Ai-san, either." Yukiho's mouth parted to speak, but Takane interjected.

"She does in this one," the silver-haired idol said ominously, holding up the piece of paper that Yukiho ripped from the magazine by accident. The atmosphere chilled around her, all the girls stopping their mini conversations to listen in. Bowing her head in apology, Takane handed the page to Yukiho.

"What is..."

The photo was blurry, but what it depicted made Yukiho's blood run cold. The figures in it were Ai, Yukiho, and Reiji, who was not even involved in the shoot, which was the first red flag. Yukiho was using Ai as a shield, her eyes welling with tears as she peered out at a smirking Reiji, _her hands gripping one of Ai's wrists for dear life_.

'Could it be that there is something more to their chemistry in the photos?' the caption blared.

'A jealous Rei-chan?' a subtitle added.

Yukiho fell back on the couch.

"Yu...Yukiho?!" Makoto shouted. She placed a hand on her forehead as everyone crowded around her.

"Makoto-kun?" Miki prodded.

"She's - !" Makoto glanced around at all of them and sighed. "She fainted."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually kind of happy the way this chapter worked out, and I hope (whoever is reading this) is happy too. And if you are happy, (or even if you're not, even if you completely hate it) then pop me a review. It'll only take you a minute tops if it's long, and about ten-thirty seconds if it's short. Basically, if you had the time to read this, you have the time to rate it. Even a kudos is fine, really.
> 
> As promised, I updated when I said I would, once a week (Saturdays). I don't know if it counts, since this chapter was actually finished a long time ago along with a couple of other chapters, but here it is, anyway. Enjoy (or not?)!

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what it is about this pairing that inspired me so much, but I just love them and it doesn't even matter if no one reads this fanfic. I've got it all planned out, already finished the first five chapters (30 000 words) and I'm going to do it. It'll be about 20 chapters plus a bonus chapter probably, and I'll update once a week.
> 
> This story will be loosely based off of Ai's route in All Star. I say loosely because there will be some significant elements from it in here and yet a lot more original stuff as well (since Yukiho isn't Haruka). I don't want to explain my writing too much because I would rather let it speak for itself, but if you have any suggestions/critiques for me please let me know, and I might even change a few things in my fic.
> 
> Loading Love is also under my fanfiction.net profile if you prefer to read things on there.
> 
> But if you're reading this at all, thanks for joining me on this little adventure.


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